Chapter Six
"Mrs. Nichols?"
Audrey Nichols smiled kindly at her sons' teacher as she was invited into the woman's office. She hadn't been expecting it when the woman had called her, especially since Drake had begun to excel in his classes again. Her eldest had stopped skipping school to hang with girls and causing in trouble in general. Instead he spent most of his time studying diligently, his grades higher than they'd been in years and yet…all she could feel was worry.
Drake was a smart child, practically a genius, but her ex-husband had made it to where he saw his intellect and creativity only as a means to escape. He hid it behind this- this mask of delinquency and she allowed it, even as she knew it was wrong, but he was her baby. His pain meant more to her than the social norms of society.
She found herself questioning whether Walter was the cause of these changes, even as her heart rebelled against the thought, stating that he'd never hurt Drake. She'd thought the same thing about her ex-husband.
"Please come in."
She followed the blond into the office taking a seat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk, dread and worry sitting like lead in her gut.
"Linda?"
The elder woman gave a heavy sigh and sat in the chair on the other side of the desk and picked up an essay.
"Audrey, Drake is perhaps one of the brightest young men I have ever met and while normally I would be calling you here about his academics, it's actually his mental state I am most concerned with today."
She paused, staring down at the document in her hands with sadness and understanding in her eyes.
"Last week, I assigned an essay to the class on the meaning and importance of coping and what situations could lead to needing to cope. Drake's essay, while very well-written, was…concerning. I highlighted the places of most note."
She handed the paper to the worried mother, who's breath caught as she read the words of her eldest son.
Coping, many think it is a way to forget what it is you have to cope with in the first place, but the human mind is a funny place. It rejects things it finds too shameful to be thought about, but the imprint remains and with it the need to cope. Too bad coping can be just as painful.
Coping is when you force yourself to wake up and breathe when all you want is for everything to stop. When your try to deal with the nightmares that run rampant throughout the night when all you want is to fall into a dreamless sleep and never wake up.
You don't cope for yourselves, however. You cope for those around you. You cope to keep the worry out of your loved ones' eyes and the pain of knowing from those that are ignorant. It hurts and it's painful, but it works.
Certain situations are hard to cope with and even harder to move past.
It can be anything from a child living with the hatred and anger of a parent, or killing someone for the first time, to a woman living in terror of having her body and stability violated, these things don't go away.
They never go away.
And while coping may help many things, it will never be able to help that.
It was a short essay, only a page long and yet she felt her heart leap into her throat. The emotion in it was so real.
This was how her baby felt.
But what was he coping with?
And why was he hiding it from her?
A blood red 'A+' stood out on the top of the essay, taunting her with its meaning and her stomach churned as she looked up to meet worried blue eyes.
"What are we gonna do?" She whispered, and Linda gave her a small but reassuring smile.
"First, we need to talk to him. Then, depending on the severity of the situation we can get him help, perhaps weekly counseling sessions in my office." Nodding she glanced back down at the paper in her hands.
She could only hope the counseling sessions would help.
If not, she feared she would lose her little boy and she didn't know if she could handle that.
*/*
How could this be happening?
Haunted amber stared down at the letter in their owner's hands, wide and full of terror. Normally steady hands trembled, fleshy pink lips bitten by straight white teeth as thoughts raced through a broken mind.
How could life be so fucking cruel as to allow this, when he still hadn't recovered from The Incident?
Why was this happening?
And what had he done to deserve it?
A choked sob left his throat as the letter fell from his hands and fluttered to the ground, the letters and familiar handwriting taunting him.
Hello Little Dragon,
Years have passed since you had me thrown in prison, and yet the anger I feel for you is stronger than ever, countered only by my love for you. I know what they did to you, and I have taken care of it.
See you soon,
Father
He knew.
He knew, and he was furious.
His lungs burned from lack of air, his heart racing as he sobbed and screamed, the silence in the room deafening.
Darkness slowly encroached upon his vision, and he was thankful when it swept him into its embrace.
Worse, he felt only slightly guilty for wishing that it would keep him there.
*/*
Cold blue eyes stared at the five men before them with rage in his gaze.
How dare they touch his child!
He hated Drake Parker, hated him with a fury that would surprise most, including his ex-wife. Yet, the only thing that came close to the hatred he felt for his son was the love he held for him.
His son was both his greatest accomplishment and his ultimate failure.
As a child, the boy had been willful, his intellect and creativity obvious to anyone that met him, spoke to him and yet the child was almost painfully shy.
He hated weakness, and despite his will, the boy was nearly as weak as they came, unwilling to fight for the simple thought he'd hurt someone.
Weak.
Unacceptable for the heir to the largest criminal empire in the world.
Darrius Parker, or Dragon, as he was known, was the most feared crime Lord in the world. He couldn't afford to be weak, nor could his heir.
He'd tried to teach the boy, but his wife had sent him to prison for it.
A snarl crossed his lips and one of his captives whimpered in fear of the expression, drawing him from his darkening thought.
First, he would take care of the trash that had hurt his son...then he was getting his children back.
His wife, and their son would live to regret the day they sent him to that hell. He would make sure of it.
TBC...